{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"speaker":null,"startTime":3,"endTime":5.01,"body":"Kevin: Welcome to Innovate and React."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":5.7,"endTime":9.96,"body":"This episode will be about thechemical reaction that feeds the world."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":10.698,"endTime":14.298,"body":"Back in the 19th century, humanitywas facing a huge problem."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":14.958,"endTime":18.828,"body":"We were running out of nitrogen inthe soil and needed to replenish it."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":19.608,"endTime":24.228,"body":"William Crooks, a British chemist,made the projection that starvation"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":24.228,"endTime":29.388,"body":"will come due to growing population andshrinking supplies of natural nitrogen"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":29.388,"endTime":33.948,"body":"resources like guano, which were usedas a fertilizer back in the days."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":34.998,"endTime":35.868,"body":"Also, he said."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":36.363,"endTime":38.343,"body":"Chemists have to come to the rescue."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":39.363,"endTime":45.213,"body":"But as a chemist, you might think, howcan we ever run out of nitrogen since it"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":45.213,"endTime":49.083,"body":"makes up most of the atmosphere around us."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":49.513,"endTime":53.023,"body":"However, the nitrogen is notusable for plants to grow that way."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":53.923,"endTime":59.343,"body":"Natural processes are slow and cannotkeep up with humanity's hunger for more."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":59.989,"endTime":65.653,"body":"There are two processes in naturewho can make the nitrogen accessible."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":66.943,"endTime":69.043,"body":"One natural way would be lightning."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":69.445,"endTime":74.335,"body":"It provides enough energy to splitthe nitrogen triple bond, which"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":74.335,"endTime":81.041,"body":"is incredibly strong in fact's, sostrong that it is used as an inert"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":81.041,"endTime":83.976,"body":"gas in many chemical laboratories."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":84.936,"endTime":89.436,"body":"Another way would be biologicalby some bacteria in the soil."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":90.141,"endTime":94.346,"body":"They can actually convertthis dinitrogen from the air."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":94.7,"endTime":96.53,"body":"uh, but this process is very slow,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":96.852,"endTime":102.222,"body":"so we needed a much fast waythat can be done in huge scales."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":103.182,"endTime":109.722,"body":"As crook said, the chemists have to comefor the rescue and many try it already in."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":109.889,"endTime":116.329,"body":"1811 Georg Friedrich Hildebrandtried to combine nitrogen and"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":116.329,"endTime":121.587,"body":"hydrogen under pressure to formammonia, but he was not successful."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":121.896,"endTime":127.183,"body":"However, he was on the right track becausepressure it's one of the conditions"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":127.183,"endTime":129.313,"body":"you need for the synthesis of ammonia."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":129.918,"endTime":134.748,"body":"About a hundred years later, FritzHaber started working on the same"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":134.748,"endTime":139.535,"body":"problem as a low level academicat the University of Karsruhe."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":140.505,"endTime":148.95,"body":"His initial experiment yieldedonly 0.005 to 0.012% of ammonia."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":149.22,"endTime":151.44,"body":"So very little at."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":152.16,"endTime":157.792,"body":"Atmospheric pressure and a thousanddegrees Celsius using an iron catalyst."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":158.338,"endTime":163.558,"body":"The problem was to shift theequilibrium of the reaction, which"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":163.648,"endTime":166.278,"body":"combines four gas molecules into two."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":166.938,"endTime":172.383,"body":"So it's entropy, disfavored,and the reaction is exothermic."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":173.033,"endTime":175.943,"body":"So lower temperatures shouldfavor the ammonia yield."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":176.686,"endTime":180.916,"body":"But at the time, they didn't have asuitable catalyst for lower temperatures."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":181.416,"endTime":187.075,"body":"The work gained momentum when WalterNernst challenged Haber's equilibrium"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":187.075,"endTime":188.425,"body":"data using his newly develop."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":189.49,"endTime":193.69,"body":"Heat theorem, also known as thethird law of thermodynamics."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":194.2,"endTime":198.55,"body":"Nernst predicted lower ammoniayields than Harber reported, which"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":198.55,"endTime":201.46,"body":"led to a public scientific dispute."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":202.15,"endTime":210.13,"body":"So Haber and his assistant, Robert LeRossignol, went back to the lab and"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":210.55,"endTime":216.76,"body":"conducted more precise measurementsat 30 atmospheres pressure."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":217.153,"endTime":222.218,"body":"And different temperatures betweenseven hundred 974 degrees Celsius."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":222.628,"endTime":226.228,"body":"Still using iron and manganese catalysts."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":227.308,"endTime":234.253,"body":"In 1908 their results were fully validatedand Nernst was proven wrong due to"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":234.523,"endTime":237.073,"body":"flaws in his experimental apparatus."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":238.393,"endTime":243.683,"body":"The next option was to increase thepressure even more as the reaction"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":243.683,"endTime":245.993,"body":"reduces the number of molecules."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":247.266,"endTime":252.876,"body":"Inspired by observing high pressureairification in the industry."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":253.136,"endTime":259.022,"body":"Haber and Le Rossignol became moreconfident with higher pressure reactions"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":260.042,"endTime":262.544,"body":"with the new high pressure set up."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":262.814,"endTime":268.176,"body":"They tested very systematicallydifferent catalyst materials From"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":268.176,"endTime":272.616,"body":"the sixth, seventh, and eighth groupto lower the reaction temperature."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":273.196,"endTime":279.014,"body":"Haber also got lucky there becauseat the time he was also working as a"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":279.044,"endTime":281.564,"body":"consultant for light bulb manufacturer."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":282.254,"endTime":288.344,"body":"This company was testing new materialsfor filaments in the bulbs, and that"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":288.344,"endTime":294.519,"body":"is how Harber had access to veryrare elements like osmium, in fact,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":294.519,"endTime":299.859,"body":"so rare, that in his days therewere only about a hundred kilogram"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":299.889,"endTime":301.869,"body":"of the refined metal in existence."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":302.469,"endTime":307.714,"body":"He could bring a sample to his laband tested it in his apparatus."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":308.914,"endTime":312.664,"body":"At now 200 atmospheres andabout 500 degrees Celsius."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":312.874,"endTime":316.894,"body":"He was able to produce thefirst drops of ammonia."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":317.914,"endTime":323.824,"body":"With the new catalyst, he was able toget 6% yield, a dramatic improvement"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":323.824,"endTime":327.274,"body":"from the 0.05% he started with."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":328.264,"endTime":330.664,"body":"Now this discovery hadto be commercialized."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":331.054,"endTime":335.179,"body":"And coming back to the beginningof the story, the world was in"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":335.179,"endTime":340.762,"body":"big need for artificial nitrogenfertilizers with further improvements."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":340.942,"endTime":349.754,"body":"In 1909, Harber managed to produce500 to 600 gram of ammonia overnight,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":350.684,"endTime":355.694,"body":"which convinced the German chemicalgiant, BASF, that the process could"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":355.694,"endTime":358.244,"body":"be promising for industrialization."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":359.204,"endTime":363.254,"body":"That is when Carl Boschwas tasked to scale up the"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":363.284,"endTime":365.739,"body":"synthesis to industrial scale."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":366.748,"endTime":372.208,"body":"One key challenge was to findit cheaper and more available."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":372.838,"endTime":378.388,"body":"Catalyst Bosch immediately disprovedof Osmium because of its rarity."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":379.288,"endTime":384.268,"body":"So he sent Alvin Mitasch to finda new, more abundant catalyst"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":384.688,"endTime":389.088,"body":"to find the best catalysts, manyexperiments where necessary."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":390.483,"endTime":395.463,"body":"His massive experimental campaignfrom 1909 contained over 20,000"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":395.463,"endTime":398.433,"body":"experiments with all kinds of materials."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":399.153,"endTime":404.283,"body":"To test these over 3000 catalystcompositions at various conditions"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":404.333,"endTime":407.453,"body":"required a new data-driven approach."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":408.413,"endTime":414.473,"body":"His highly systematic workflow canbe seen as the foundation for high"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":414.473,"endTime":418.508,"body":"throughput experimentation andlarge scale catalyst screenings."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":418.797,"endTime":419.787,"body":"That are used today."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":420.418,"endTime":427.355,"body":"Finally, he found iron oxide catalystpromoted by potassium oxide, calcium"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":427.355,"endTime":430.905,"body":"oxide, aluminum oxide, and silicon oxide."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":431.552,"endTime":437.88,"body":"This recipe is still largely unchangedtoday, which underlays his meticulous"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":438.406,"endTime":443.726,"body":"The other main problem with the scalingup of the synthesis of ammonia layed"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":443.746,"endTime":448.696,"body":"in its harsh reaction conditions,which put enormous stress on the"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":448.756,"endTime":451.606,"body":"rectors, especially at that new scale."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":452.607,"endTime":458.941,"body":"Earlier reactors exploded or failed dueto hydrogen embrittlement of the steel,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":459.15,"endTime":463.755,"body":"which was a big problem At the usedpressures and temperatures to overcome"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":463.755,"endTime":470.293,"body":"this problem, Bosch invented a new doubletube rector design, a breakthrough for the"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":470.293,"endTime":472.753,"body":"industrialization of ammonia synthesis."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":473.713,"endTime":480.013,"body":"The double tube rector featured an innertube which was made of a low carbon"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":480.013,"endTime":482.208,"body":"steel that could resist the hydrogen."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":483.027,"endTime":487.677,"body":"This tube contained the catalystand synthesis gas around it, an"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":487.707,"endTime":489.597,"body":"outer pressure bearing steel shell."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":490.497,"endTime":494.367,"body":"A key feature of the outershell were small holes to"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":494.367,"endTime":496.137,"body":"avoid hydrogen accumulation."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":496.377,"endTime":500.162,"body":"That could be caused by diffusionthrough the inner shell."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":501.772,"endTime":507.792,"body":"Boschs design allowed to tame the 200atmospheres and 500 to 600 degrees"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":507.792,"endTime":510.852,"body":"Celsius of the reaction without bursting."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":511.542,"endTime":516.672,"body":"Only four years after Haber'sbreakthrough, BASF was able to run"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":516.672,"endTime":521.952,"body":"its first industrial escape plantin Oppau, which produced 30 to 40"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":521.952,"endTime":527.592,"body":"tons of ammonia per day, which isagain, a large step compared to the."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":527.781,"endTime":534.753,"body":"500 to 600 grams that Haber wasable to make, and this new source of"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":534.813,"endTime":540.843,"body":"nitrogen, the industrial productionof synthetic fertilizers could begin."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":540.99,"endTime":545.91,"body":"Parsing the way for ourcurrent 8.2 billion population."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":547.05,"endTime":551.46,"body":"In fact, about half of our currentpopulation is fed by crops made"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":551.46,"endTime":553.02,"body":"possible with this process."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":553.104,"endTime":559.584,"body":"The flip side of this coin is that theHaber Bosch process consumes a lot of"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":559.584,"endTime":566.529,"body":"energy to split the nitrogen, nitrogen,triple bond, and contributes about one"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":566.605,"endTime":570.535,"body":"to 1.8% of the global CO2 emissions."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":570.729,"endTime":576.529,"body":"I'm not sure if this extent wasforeseeable at the time, but Haber's"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":576.549,"endTime":578.469,"body":"discovery was groundbreaking."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":579.369,"endTime":584.229,"body":"That's why he was awardedthe Nobel Prize in 1918."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":585.279,"endTime":590.439,"body":"However, his award was one of themost controversial ones because"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":590.559,"endTime":597.129,"body":"of his role in World War I, thedevelopment of weaponized chlorine gas."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":597.566,"endTime":601.916,"body":"got him also the nicknamefather of chemical weapons."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":603.193,"endTime":608.263,"body":"So this begs the question, if thediscovery can be differentiated from the"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":608.263,"endTime":615.056,"body":"scientist while laying the foundationfor more than agriculture, supporting"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":615.776,"endTime":617.936,"body":"the billions of lives that we have today."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":618.239,"endTime":619.109,"body":"He also."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":619.664,"endTime":623.269,"body":"Made the large scale productionof explosives possible."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":623.749,"endTime":628.369,"body":"For example, pedestrian nitratecan be a fertilizer and an"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":628.369,"endTime":631.279,"body":"explosive, but that's not all."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":632.158,"endTime":637.732,"body":"Unlike other scientists, he servedfor his country and contributed"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":637.732,"endTime":641.742,"body":"largely to the development ofchemical weapons in World War I."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":643.382,"endTime":648.902,"body":"He claimed that many lives would be savedif the war could be ended more quickly."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":651.002,"endTime":656.535,"body":"And that's why many scientists refuseto come to his noble lecture when"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":656.535,"endTime":661.395,"body":"Harvard was given the prize becauseof his involvements in the war."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":662.415,"endTime":666.465,"body":"Nevertheless, the fixation ofnitrogen from the air one of the"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":666.465,"endTime":671.715,"body":"greatest achievements in the feet ofchemistry and deserves this price."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":672.465,"endTime":678.885,"body":"In fact, it got two noble prices as CarlBosch also received a noble prize for his"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":678.885,"endTime":685.965,"body":"contribution in the high pressure rectorfacilitating the industrial process."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":686.955,"endTime":692.955,"body":"To me, this is truly fascinatingand as I said in previous episodes,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":693.285,"endTime":695.295,"body":"my favorite chemical discovery,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":696.705,"endTime":702.101,"body":"a fun fact that shows the relevanceof this reaction for humanity is that"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":702.101,"endTime":706.931,"body":"about half of the nitrogen in ourbodies was in the Harbor Bosch process."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":707.692,"endTime":713.698,"body":"next to fertilizer production andas a reactant, Ammonia will also"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":713.698,"endTime":718.018,"body":"play a role for energy transportin the future energy system."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":718.552,"endTime":724.462,"body":"As you remember from the beginning,hydrogen is used for the synthesis of"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":724.462,"endTime":731.057,"body":"ammonia in the future energy systembased on renewables, hydrogen will be a"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":731.057,"endTime":737.177,"body":"corner piece as energy storage and thebridge between molecules and electricity"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":738.077,"endTime":744.047,"body":"because hydrogen can be obtained fromwater and electricity via electrolysis."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":744.409,"endTime":748.189,"body":"The problem is that hydrogenis not that easy to transport,"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":748.189,"endTime":749.479,"body":"if not done by pipeline."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":749.852,"endTime":752.312,"body":"So we need hydrogen carriers"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":752.475,"endTime":753.915,"body":"and Ammonia is one of them."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":754.941,"endTime":760.671,"body":"What makes Ammonia special is that it is acarbon free alternative to all the classic"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":760.731,"endTime":763.941,"body":"energy carriers like methane or benzene."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":763.941,"endTime":764.061,"body":"We know."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":766.491,"endTime":772.281,"body":"We already have infrastructure forammonia in many ports since it is traded"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":772.281,"endTime":776.85,"body":"as a commodity already So this makesit ideal for the transport of hydrogen"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":777.63,"endTime":780.99,"body":"to use ammonia as a hydrogen carrier."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":780.99,"endTime":787.038,"body":"One puzzle piece is missing ammoniacrackers, the reverse reaction to split"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":787.038,"endTime":789.408,"body":"ammonia back into hydrogen and nitrogen."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":790.248,"endTime":794.674,"body":"Currently there pilot plants beingbuilt To test out this new technology."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":795.195,"endTime":799.605,"body":"Another challenge would be tofind new  catalysts that can"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":799.605,"endTime":804.675,"body":"withstand rapid load changes sothe synthesis can follow renewable"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":804.675,"endTime":806.775,"body":"energy supply from wind and solar."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":807.507,"endTime":811.857,"body":"The classic how Bosch process isoptimized for efficiency with a"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":811.857,"endTime":816.504,"body":"constant load, ideally close tothe plant's maximum capacity."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":817.764,"endTime":823.362,"body":"This way, the maximum of ammoniacan be produced, but when used as"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":823.362,"endTime":828.672,"body":"an energy carrier, it must onlyproduce when the green electricity"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":828.672,"endTime":834.125,"body":"is abundant with wind and solar,that can change comparably fast."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":834.42,"endTime":839.615,"body":"So the classic hammer Boschposters has to be newly shaped."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":841.446,"endTime":845.796,"body":"And this is, uh, another example whereold chemistry becomes relevant with"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":845.796,"endTime":848.556,"body":"new use cases and new challenges."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":849.161,"endTime":849.766,"body":"So there's room."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":850.138,"endTime":854.218,"body":"For research, which I would liketo cover in future episodes."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":855.06,"endTime":856.05,"body":"Thank you for listening."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":856.787,"endTime":861.647,"body":"Let me know in the comments, canthe discovery be differentiated from"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":861.647,"endTime":863.092,"body":"the scientists who discovered it?"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":864.812,"endTime":869.462,"body":"Also let me know if you likethis format of the show."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":870.002,"endTime":873.812,"body":"Don't forget to click thefollow button that really helps"},{"speaker":null,"startTime":873.812,"endTime":875.162,"body":"the show more than you think."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":875.582,"endTime":878.042,"body":"And share this episode withyour colleagues and friends."},{"speaker":null,"startTime":878.242,"endTime":881.152,"body":"Until next time, keepinnovating and stay curious."}]}